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The pages on this site contain documentation for very old MS-DOS software, purely for historical purposes. If you're looking for up-to-date documentation, particularly for programming, you should not rely on the information found here, as it will be woefully out of date.

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INPUT reads input from the keyboard or a file. LINE INPUT reads a line of
up to 255 characters from the keyboard or a file.
 
INPUT [;] ["prompt"{; | ,}] variablelist
LINE INPUT [;] ["prompt";] variable$
INPUT #filenumber%, variablelist
LINE INPUT #filenumber%, variable$
 
    ■ prompt          An optional literal string that is displayed before
                      the user enters data. A semicolon after prompt appends
                      a question mark to the prompt string.
    ■ variablelist    One or more variables, separated by commas, in which
                      data entered from the keyboard or read from a file is
                      stored. Variable names can consist of up to 40
                      characters and must begin with a letter. Valid
                      characters are A-Z, 0-9, and period (.).
    ■ variable$       Holds a line of characters entered from the keyboard
                      or read from a file.
    ■ filenumber%     The number of an open file.
 
    ■ INPUT uses a comma as a separator between entries.
      LINE INPUT reads all characters up to a carriage return.
    ■ For keyboard input, a semicolon immediately after INPUT keeps the
      cursor on the same line after the user presses the Enter key.
 
Example:
    CLS
    OPEN "LIST" FOR OUTPUT AS #1
    DO
        INPUT "   NAME:       ", Name$  'Read entries from the keyboard.
        INPUT "   AGE:        ", Age$
        WRITE #1, Name$, Age$
        INPUT "Add another entry"; R$
    LOOP WHILE UCASE$(R$) = "Y"
    CLOSE #1
    'Echo the file back.
    OPEN "LIST" FOR INPUT AS #1
    CLS
    PRINT "Entries in file:": PRINT
    DO WHILE NOT EOF(1)
        LINE INPUT #1, REC$  'Read entries from the file.
        PRINT REC$           'Print the entries on the screen.
    LOOP
    CLOSE #1
    KILL "LIST"
 
See Also    ◄INKEY$►    ◄INPUT$►    ◄OPEN Statement File Modes►